Dylan had the sense to realize Julie’s father needed some reassurance. “It’s serious between us. I intend to marry her.”
Jeff looked taken back. “Um...does Julie know that?”
Dylan grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
“This ought to be interesting,” Jeff muttered, his face breaking into a smile. “A man after my own heart.”
Dylan grinned. “Yes, sir.”
At that moment, Julie came rushing down the stairs with a suitcase in one hand and a clothing bag in the other.
She paused, looking noticeably guilty when she found her dad standing beside Dylan in the kitchen. Julie blinked, obviously confused to see her dad smiling.
“I was just about ready to go over to the Tap and eat lunch with Dylan,” Julie said. She looked at Dylan, and he nodded imperceptibly. “The person I hired to be your assistant is supposed to meet us there. I said I’d introduce you.”
“Alright,” Jeff answered, looking down at his clothes. “Let me get out of my fishing stuff and take a shower first, and I’ll see you two over there in about twenty minutes.”
“Okay,” Julie answered, still looking puzzled as her dad began climbing the stairs.
She glanced at Dylan with suspicion. “What did you say to him? Despite the fact that I’m twenty-six years old, normally he’d be growling at me.
Dylan grinned. “I only told him the truth.”
Julie looked upward. “I can only imagine what that was,” she muttered, talking to no one in particular.
She stared hard at Dylan when he began to speak.
“No.” She motioned with her hand for him to stop. “Don’t even tell me.”
Dylan reached for her bag and keys and walked out through the back doorway, laughing. After unlocking and throwing the bag into the trunk of Julie’s convertible, he pulled open the passenger door, dropping down onto the seat. Reaching over, he opened the driver’s side door for Julie.
After Julie laid her clothing bag into the trunk and slammed it shut, she slid into the driver’s seat, revving up the engine. He knew he was probably looking smug. But Dylan had a sneaking suspicion that Julie actually liked the way he operated because glancing his way, she suddenly grinned when she began backing the car from the driveway.
* * *
Seated and waiting for them inside of a booth, his mom seemed to be enjoying herself at the Crystal Rock Tap.
It was early afternoon, but the Friday night happy hour crowd was already gathering to enjoy the band which would begin playing shortly.
Straightaway, Anne was making suggestions for improving the place when she pointed upstairs. What was apparently storage space now had been living quarters for Julie’s grandparents when they’d first been married.
“Convert the space?” Julie was asking.
“The interior is lovely with its log walls. It’s so rustic. What about opening it up for more seating upstairs? Of course you’d have to have an engineer or an architect let you know if it’s possible. Or you could move your offices up there and expand downstairs if it isn’t. There’s an awful lot of wasted space that could be used more efficiently.”
Julie was definitely thinking about it. “You know, we’re going to have to remodel the bathrooms soon anyway, cause the plumbing needs work.”
His mother nodded. “And as far as the bar? I think it really needs an update.”
Julie gave his mom a rueful smile. “Yeah. It looks more like a fishing hole as opposed to a hangout for couples along with a younger crowd.”
Anne grinned. “There’s an awful lot of dead fish hanging behind that bar.”
“Dead fish? Where, here? I’ll have you know that all of the fish hanging on the walls were caught by champion fishermen.” There was humor in his voice when Jeff Thompson approached the table.
“Anne,” Dylan said, looking at Jeff. “This is Julie’s dad, Jeff.” Dylan grinned at his mom. “Jeff, this is Anne.” Dylan cleared his throat. “She’s a friend of the family.”
But neither one of them was paying any attention to Dylan. Jeff Thompson was staring at his mother and Anne Endicott was definitely checking out Jeff.”
Julie bent closer, whispering into Dylan’s ear. “Is it my imagination, or did the temperature in this place just heat up another twenty degrees?”
Dylan barked out a laugh, which seemed to break the spell. His mother was looking guilty, while Jeff Thompson was looking…
Like he wanted to gobble his mother up, Dylan realized, grinning. Jeff was devouring her with his eyes.
Dylan nudged Julie with an elbow trying to get her to quit staring. She was watching her father with obvious fascination as he began making a move on Dylan’s mom.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Jeff said, sliding into the booth next to Anne.
Looking a little dazed, she finally moved over and gave Jeff a little space.
“Have you ordered yet?” Jeff asked. “Our BLT is pretty darned good.”
“Um, no,” Anne finally answered. “I wouldn’t mind sampling a few of your appetizers first.”
Dylan choked down a laugh.
When Julie’s eyes went wide meeting her dad’s, he winked, turning back to Anne.
Anne seemed to finally comprehend the context of her answer, and grabbing her water, she gulped it down.
Dylan snorted, and began to laugh. He hadn’t seen his mom this flustered since...
Come to think of it, he’d never seen his mom this flustered.
Jeff was smiling from ear to ear when he called over one of the waitresses. “Justine?”
“Hey, Jeff,” Justine answered, approaching the booth. “I didn’t see you come in. What can I get for all of you?”
“How much trouble do you think it would it be for Don to make up an appetizer tray?” He motioned with his hand. “I’d like for you to meet Anne. Not only is she going to be my assistant, she’ll be giving me advice about upgrades and menu changes. She has a really impressive resume.”
His mom reached over the table and shook Justine’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Justine.”
“Same here,” Justine answered, smiling.
“Justine’s the head waitress,” Julie added.
“I’ll get Don on those appetizers right away.”
It was an interesting couple of hours. His mom sampled a lot of the food, and approved of most of the items on the menu. She seemed to have regained her composure, but Dylan could tell she was extremely attracted to Julie’s dad.
Thank God for that, Dylan thought. Maybe his mom would finally have something to occupy her time besides this never-ending murder investigation.
He and Julie polished off their burgers, and after reassuring himself that his mom was in good hands, he was ready to go home with Julie and get to work.
He and Julie stood up and said their goodbyes and began heading toward the door.
“Oh, Dad?” Julie asked, turning back. “What would you think about Anne staying at the cabin at Crystal Rock Lake for a while? I know you were talking about renting it out.”
“You know what? It’s just about ready to go Jules,” Jeff answered, looking at Anne. “I’ve had Callahan Construction doing some fixes. But they’re planning on being finished next week.”
“Since you haven’t negotiated Anne’s salary yet,” Julie said. “How about letting her live there rent free?” Julie winked at her father.
Jeff looked at Anne. “As long as you don’t mind the fact that I’ll be needing to use the boathouse quite a bit, since my fishing boat is stashed there?”
“That’s fine with me. I’d love to live near the lake. I’m renting a cabin at Dragonfly Pointe right now.”
“Well, give Jake your notice. I can take you out to the cabin later today to take a look inside if you’d like?”
Julie was still looking dazed when she and Dylan climbed into her convertible.
They sat there in silence for a moment before Dylan asked, “What is it? You’re looking a little strange.”
“Would you mind?” Dylan asked quietly. “If they started seeing each other, I mean? I’ve been really worried about what she’s going to want from her life when we finally solve my father’s murder.”
“I wouldn’t mind at all.” Julie hesitated, reaching for his hand. “It’s not that my dad hasn’t gone out with a few women here and there, but there’s never been anyone he’s bothered introducing me to, so I knew he wasn’t serious.” She sighed heavily. “It’s the same for him as it is for your mom, I think. He’s never moved on past his marriage.”
Dylan nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “One way or another, I need to find out what happened to my mom, Dylan. I’m glad you’ve decided to look into it.”
Starting up the engine and shoving the clutch into gear, Julie drove through the parking lot and away from the Tap.
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Once they returned home, Dylan and Julie decided they would go over the case file in the living room where they could spread out and be more comfortable. Julie got a pot of coffee brewing while Dylan went back into the office to retrieve the file.
Since it was a little chillier than usual, Dylan switched on the fireplace and she and him sat on either side, reclining in leather club chairs, while Buster made himself cozy laying in his kitty bed nearby.
Dylan read the pages first, handing them over to Julie once he was finished.
After twenty minutes, something he was looking at made Dylan sit up in his chair. “Julie,” he said in a hushed voice.
When Dylan kept staring hard at the page, Julie stood up and began studying what he was reading from over his shoulder.
Julie gasped. “No,” she moaned. “It couldn’t be.”
Dylan shook his head in apparent consternation. “Damn. I don’t know what the hell to think about all of this now.” He stared at her intently. “You don’t remember any of this at all. Do you?
Tears filled her eyes and Julie shook her head blindly. “I was only about five or six years old. But, still,” she cried. “Why didn’t I remember that I was with my mom when she disappeared?”
* * *
He’d been consoling her for the last hour. It was still rather early, but Dylan decided it was time to quit for the day. He wanted to draw Julie’s thoughts away from the devastating news for a while.
What Dylan really wanted to do was distract her by making love with her, but it wasn’t the time or the place; she was still too much in shock.
“Let’s go out for dinner?”
She numbly nodded her acceptance.
While Julie went into the bedroom to get ready, Dylan began bookmarking and sorting through the paperwork so it’d be easier to begin where they’d left off the following day.
When Julie walked back into the living room less than thirty minutes later carrying her jacket and purse, Dylan could see she wasn’t quite as upset. And when she smiled, he was having a difficult time thinking about anything except how hot she looked in that sexy little black dress she was wearing.
She looked down at herself somewhat uncertainly. “Do I look alright? Danielle Loughlin talked me into buying nearly a whole new wardrobe.”
Dylan raised a brow. “Let’s just put it this way. I won’t be tasting anything I’m eating, because all I’ll be thinking about is how much I want to get you back out of that dress.”
Julie burst into laughter. “I’m already feeling better.” She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Where did you want to eat?”
“Dragonfly Pointe?” He smiled. “I made a reservation earlier.”
And bending down, he kissed her, cutting it short by pulling away. “I’d better get ready now, or I’ll never want to leave.”
Julie’s laughter echoed from behind him as he made his way into the bedroom to change clothes.
When Dylan returned to the living room fifteen minutes later, Julie’s eyes went wide. He’d decided to dress into the suit that he’d worn at the Callahan party.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t wear a suit too often these days.”
“That’s probably good.”
Dylan lifted a brow. “How’s that?”
“I’d probably get tired of having to beat other women away with a stick,” she answered dryly.
Dylan grinned. “I think there might’ve been a compliment in that statement somewhere.”
Jumping up to the very top of the club chair and staring straight into Dylan’s eyes, Buster told him exactly what he was thinking. “Meeeeoooowwww.”
“Buster doesn’t agree,” Dylan muttered looking at Julie. And they both began laughing.
* * *
They had a fantastic dinner together and Dylan drew out the evening as long as he could. Julie sure had an awful lot of friends in Crystal Rock who were genuinely glad to hear she was coming home to stay. Dylan could tell that everyone was curious though. He’d met a few of these people when he’d been dating Kate, but had pretty much avoided putting himself out there and making friends because of his undercover work.
But who was he kidding? He hadn’t really been avoiding putting himself out there as much as he hadn’t enjoyed himself as much with Kate. Sure, they’d had fun together since they were friends. But everything was different with Julie. It was amazing how much he was willing to give to someone he was crazy about.
He had to be wearing a silly smile on his face, and Julie looked at him with a question in her eyes. They’d moved into the bar where there was a dance floor that led outside onto a patio overlooking the lake.
Dylan reached for Julie’s hand. “I think they’re playing our song.”
She scrunched up her nose. “I didn’t know that we had a song.”
“We’d better get to work on picking one out,” he answered, tugging her through the room.
She laughed as Dylan began spinning her around. “My friends are jealous.”
“They should be,” Dylan answered, suddenly turning serious. He pulled her more tightly into his arms and began nuzzling her mouth with his lips.
“Dylan?” Her eyes were deep, dark and mysterious when they broke away from their kiss.
“Julie?” he said softly. He was getting really turned on as he held her within his arms.
“Let’s go home?” she whispered.
She laughed as Dylan immediately stopped dancing and yanked her from the floor. Rushing to their table, Dylan scooped up her purse and handed it over before laying her jacket over her shoulders.
“Bye, everyone,” Dylan said, smiling at the half dozen people they were leaving at the table.
When he reached for Julie’s hand, Dylan could hear her friends laughing loudly when Julie began waving goodbye as he dragged her from the bar.
* * *
As soon as they walked into the house, he was all over her, and he was really glad to see she was enjoying every minute of it. He unzipped and tugged her dress from over her head, but just as Dylan was ready to let it drop onto the floor, Julie snatched it from his hands. “No, it’ll wrinkle!”
Dylan grinned when Julie laid it carefully over the top of one of the club chairs and rushed back into his arms. “Where were we?”
Dylan laughed softly. “You were undressing me with your eyes.”
“Well, I can do better than that,” she nearly purred. Giving him a coy smile, she began stripping away his suit. After tugging off his jacket, she laid it carefully alongside her dress, before reaching up and loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.
Laying her hands over his shoulders, she ran her fingers down lightly over his chest until her hands were spread wide over either side of his waist.
Julie was wearing a lacy black bra paired with some sexy black panties. As he began inching her down the hallway toward the bedroom while he was kissing her like crazy, he unhooked her bra and let i
t drop onto the ground.
When they finally reached the bedroom, Dylan scooped Julie into his arms and threw her onto the bed.
She made a squeaking sound and sat up laughing.
Dylan crouched, crawling over to her on the bed.
She was wearing some kind of sexy nylon stockings with lace around the top, and Dylan nibbled on her thigh first before sliding a stocking down with his hands and following with his tongue.
Julie was giggling at first, but by the time Dylan was working on removing the second stocking, he had her writhing with desire.
But then he was laughing, trying to wrestle himself free of his shoes and pants. Dylan was having a difficult time because Julie didn’t want to let him go.
The tips of her fingers ran through the hair on his chest, gently grazing his nipples. And when her naked breasts were pressed against his chest, he became lost in sensation, feeling the softness of her skin, the fullness of her breasts, and her nipples aroused as they rubbed enticingly against his bare skin.
Dylan’s mouth was on her, sliding up the slope of her breast, and closing hotly on her nipple, sucking strongly.
Stroking his back, rubbing her face against his, Julie whimpered and squirmed underneath him.
She kissed him, slanting her lips against his, letting his tongue invade her mouth.
Dylan eventually broke away from the kiss to breathe in air. “Christ, Julie. I can’t believe what you do to me.”
“Now Dylan,” she said softly. “I want you now.” Her beautiful brown eyes burned with an intensity that touched him deep inside. He’d never felt like this before.
His heart began hammering in his chest, and with her urging him on, he buried himself into her.
The languid thrust of her tongue imitated the strong sure strokes of him moving inside of her.
He felt Julie’s hands slide up over his chest, hesitate on his shoulders and then rise to frame his face. Even locked deep within their kiss, he felt the touch of her cool fingers on his cheeks and on his jaw, and reaction streaked through him.
He thrust deeper, harder, and she gasped, her body arching greedily under his.
Lifting his shoulders a fraction further, enough to appreciate the way her body, all sumptuous curves and tan creamy skin, undulated with each thrust, absorbed each forceful penetration as he rode her and filled her, he watched as he pushed her step by step closer to the peak.
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